Notre Dame and Michighan State resume their long-time rivalry tonight in South Bend. The Irish and the Spartans have not played since the 2013 season. After ND joined the Atlantic Coast Conference the Irish were forced to drop some long-time rivals, many from the Big 10, to accommodate the requirement of the ACC that ND must play at least five conference teams a year.

This Irish-Spartan series will only last until next season when ND visits East Lansing. The two schools hope to arrange future games.Last week the Irish got their first win of the season, a 39-10 romp over a undermanned Nevada team. Irish fans should not get overly excited about the win since Nevada was far from a quality opponent. But a win is a win and the fact that the Irish defense, except for the first quarter, was more aggressive and the fact that it made some improvement from the Texas game the week before was a plus.The defense has a long way to go and since the Irish are young on defense, especially in the secondary, look for each opponent to test the Irish pass defense. The run defense did show some improvement, but again Nevada was a team that did not have the personnel that could match up with the Irish. More on the game later.As I noted, ND returns to action against a Big 10 opponent in the Spartans, who have had a good run since the last meeting between the schools.Head coach Mark Dantonio has built a solid program that each year challenges for the conference title and gets into a bowl or playoff situation.The Spartans, who are 34-4 since the last time they played ND, have played only one game so far this season. MSU defeated Furman, 28-13, on Sept. 3 in its opener and were off last week.The Spartans are led by quarterback Tyler O'Connor, who completed 13 of 18 passes for three touchdowns against Furman. L.J. Scott ran for 108 yards on 20 carries and one score. Top receivers are Monty Madares who had five catches for 85 yards and Felton Davis, who had three for 40 yards and a score.ND leads the series 48-28-1. The Irish have won the last three meetings between the schools, winning in 2013, 17-13. The last MSU win was in 2010, a 34-31 overtime victory. The game will be televised nationally by NBC-TV with a 7:40 p.m. kickoff.IRISH NOTES ... Quarterback DeShone Kizer had another good game last week completing 15 of 18 passes for 156 yards and two touchdowns. He had one interception. Malik Zaire played a large part of the second half and was four of nine passing for 49 yards. Josh Adams led ND's running attack with 106 yards on 10 carries followed by Dexter Williams with 59 yards on eight carries; Kizer 35 yards on 10 carries and a TD; and Tarean Folston 27 yards on 10 carries. ND's appears to have two top-notch receivers developing in Equanimeous St. Brown, who had six receptions for 85 yards and C.J. Sanders, who had 46 yards on five catches and a score. Also, freshman Kevin Stepherson had 35 yards on three receptions. Defensively James Onwualu, Te'von Coney, Nick Coleman and Isaac Rochell all had five solo tackles. ND managed 444 yards in total offense last week, 239 rushing and 205 passing. Penalties were a problem, especially in the first half with ND being flagged nine times for 94 yards. Place kicker Justin Yoon missed an extra point, which should not happen for such a talented kicker. Yoon also won the nod to handle all kickoffs over punter Tyler Newsome .... The young Irish secondary lost another starter when cornerback Shawn Crawford went down in the Nevada game with a torn Achilles' tendon which will probably end his season. This puts added pressure on defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder to stop the bleeding in the pass defense area .... Senior cornerback Cole Luke got the honor of wearing No. 1 jersey, following linebacker Onwualu in that rotation for the weekly honor .... Nose guard Jarron Jones got his first-ever interception .... For the second week in a row, the Irish defense did not allow any big-run plays in the game. That stat will be seriously tested this week with the run-first offense of the MSU, which has one of the biggest offensive lines ND will see this season .... Last week marked the 250th consecutive sellout at ND stadium .... Wide receiver and a team leader, Torri Hunter, will return tonight to the Irish lineup after missing last week's game due to a concussion sustained in the third quarter of the Texas game. ND will certainly need him .... Ara Parseghian and his 1966 national championship team will be honored prior to the start of tonight's game. More than 70 members of that team, which also played in the classic 10-10 tie that year with Michigan State, are expected to be on hand for the ceremonies .... Former head coach Lou Holtz is also on campus this weekend for the Lou's Lads charitable organization which was formed by some of his former players and "dedicated to preserving and supporting the legacy of Lou Holtz." .... ND and MSU both have coaches who like to run the ball. Kelly is 41-6 at ND when his teams win the rushing battle. Dantonio, over the same time span, is 55-4 when his teams win the rush battle .... In my preseason picks I have the Irish winning tonight in a close contest. But with the young Irish secondary and the poor play of the defense in Texas, I think the edge now goes to the Spartans. No doubt in my mind that MSU will test the young Irish secondary so ND must come up with some kind of pass rush or it will be a long night for the home team.